The Wisdom of Solomon
1 Kings 2.10-12; 3.3-14
August 18, 2024
Pentecost 13B; Proper 15B
Rev. Tim Boggess claims, “It was, and perhaps still is, the most perfect prayer I have ever heard. And it came out of the mouth of a six year-old boy.” The lad’s mother told Boggess the story. Her son was standing on the edge of the pool at the deep end, trying to work up the courage to jump in. He could swim, but he had never jumped into such deep water and was clearly intimidated. He couldn’t simple put a toe on the bottom to keep his head above water. Could he keep himself afloat? He stood, his mother said, for a long time: “Hesitating. Meditating. Palpitating.” Then there came a moment she thought he wasn’t going to do it. He seemed to begin leaning backwards, his body language suggesting he was about to back away. Instead, he raised his gaze heavenward, put his hands together and said, “"O Lord, give me skills or GIVE ME GILLS!" And then he jumped. [http://day1.org/6757-skills_and_gills; August 16, 2015]
Often in life, we find ourselves staring into the deep water wondering if we are capable of swimming; fearing that we may be in over our head. And in such situations we too may cry out to God for ‘skills or gills:’ “Help me. Help me to overcome this challenge; help me to succeed. Or, failing that, help me to just survive.”
We find Solomon in such a place in our scripture. His father David is dead. Solomon is not the expected heir; his older brother Adonijah is first in line and had actively promoted himself as king even before David died. But David apparently made a private vow to Bathsheba that her son would sit on the throne. Hearing that Adonijah was already being declared king by some and remembering his promise, David orders that Solomon be anointed as the next king. In doing so, David instructs Solomon to eliminate a list of enemies who could threaten the young king’s power—something Solomon will eventually do through a combination of exile and, mostly, execution.
So, Solomon finds himself elevated rather suddenly and under contested, indeed violent, circumstances. He understands the great weight of the responsibilities that have fallen to him. And perhaps he feels some inkling of guilt for the blood on his hands. He’s no child, but he likely was young, perhaps 20, and relatively inexperienced. Above all, he knows he is not his father. UCC pastor Maxwell Grant contrasts the two kings this way: “David was a charismatic warrior; Solomon was cooler...more of a thinker. If David was a self-made tycoon, Solomon was a straight-A student who went on to law school. Solomon was a man who would come to enjoy a little sherry after dinner.” [Grant, “Precarious Wisdom,” Day1, August 19, 2018; https://day1.org/weekly-broadcast/5d9b820ef71918cdf200427f/maxwell_grant_precarious_wisdom] Solomon knows the water before him is very deep and he’s unsure of his ability to swim.
So, one night, when Solomon is asleep after a day given over to worshipping God with a plethora of sacrifices, God appears to the young king in a dream and asks him a question: “What would you have me give to you?” God seems to be giving Solomon carte blanche: whatever you want, it’s yours; just ask.
What an offer. If we could have anything, what would we ask for? Money? Power? Fame? Love? Beauty? Health? Longevity? Something else; something more specific to our circumstances, needs or desires? Solomon certainly had money, power and fame but many who have those things want more. The possibilities seem endless.
Of course, one’s answer to such an offer says much about one’s character and priorities. For Solomon, at least for the moment, his priority is the people: “You have set me over a great people….Who can govern so great a people?” He is concerned with the common good, justice, the current and future welfare of the nation. So he asks God for wisdom: “Give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern good and evil.”
The request itself is a sign he already possess a modicum of the wisdom he asks for. He knows his limits. He knows his inadequacies. And thus he knows his need for God’s help. Gene Rice points out that the Hebrew translated as understanding mind literally means “a hearing heart,” the heart of course being understood as the seat of the will, the “center of the psychic self….A ‘hearing heart’ is [thus] one that is open, receptive, teachable.” [Rice, 1 Kings: Nations Under God, International Theological Commentary, p. 34] Solomon is asking for a heart that is open to hear God, a mind that is receptive to Divine instruction, for, in scripture, wisdom is always a gift of God. Solomon wants to use his authority and power for the good of the people, but he knows he can’t do this on his own. He knows he needs God’s help to discern what is just and unjust, what is wise and what is foolish, what is good and what is evil.
It is a request that pleases God. After all, according to this morning’s Call to Worship, Psalm 111, God is one whose character is righteous and merciful, and whose deeds are therefore marked by graciousness and justice. [Ps 111.3 & 7] God led Israel our of oppression in Egypt and into freedom in the Promised Land, providing food for them in the wilderness and making covenant to be their God and their help. [The entire psalm alludes to the events of the Exodus as evidence of God’s faithfulness and grace.] Thus, it is significant that Solomon, in his response to God’s offer, invokes God’s hesed, God’s steadfast love. As Gene Rice observes, “‘Steadfast love’ is the commitment that maintains the integrity of a covenant relationship.” [Rice, p. 32] It is the glue that connects two people or parties and holds them together, come what may, in their commitment to each other. Steadfast love, whether displayed by God or humans, is committed to the good, to the thriving of others.
Rice also points out that the Hebrew word for “govern” (shaphat) can also be translated as “judge.” While Solomon’s tasks will seldom be judicial in nature, he will constantly have to discern between what is right and wrong and determine how to establish equity so that his people may thrive. Thus, “govern” carries strong connotations of “exercising authority” in ways that promote justice—right, fair and equitable relationships—within society. [Rice, pp.34-35] Justice and love, which are both Divine characteristics and Divine gifts, are central to the wisdom Soloman needs to govern.
Indeed, God desires justice and love, not only in government, but in all our relationships. We are called to care for one another, to have compassion for one another, to give, to help, to work toward God’s kingdom, or, as Martin Luther King, Jr. called it, the Beloved Community. Young Solomon asks for the wisdom to lead his people toward such a community and God grants it to him.
So, we see that wisdom is not simply abstract knowledge. Wisdom is ethical knowledge, involving both the head and the heart. Wisdom is enacted knowledge. Biblically speaking wisdom is the God-given enlightenment and empowerment to do justice, show mercy and walk humbly with the Lord. Wisdom is both the recognition of what is most important in a given situation and the corresponding action that accords with God’s desire for justice.
Wisdom is also about understanding and enacting God’s desire for love. Recall that in last Sunday’s reading from Ephesians, we were told “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you …. Live in love, as Christ love us and gave himself up for us.” [4.32 & 5.2] This is the will of God. This is what it means to live as wise persons [Eph 5.15]: to live in love by giving of oneself to others. As the great 4th century preacher John Chrysostom put it, “Love is the foundation of everything,” [Homily 17 on Ephesians] including wisdom, for love—compassionate, kind, forgiving, just, community building love—is the will of God. Our call and challenge is to live wisely by enacting the love God wills.
And this is a challenge. Even as we affirm Solomon’s request, we must recognize that wisdom is not a sort of once for all grant that is effective in every situation, much less something automatically possessed forever. Even the wisest among us are not wise all the time. Solomon will do much to uphold and continue his father’s legacy, but he will not always walk in the ways of wisdom. He will build his kingdom with slave labor and oppressively high taxes. He will spend the kingdom’s wealth on ridiculously extravagant daily feasts. And he will turn away from God and establish worship sites for other gods.[i] [Debbie Thomas, “A King’s Tale,” Journey with Jesus: A Weekly Webzine for the Global Church, August 9, 2015; https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/324-a-king-s-tale] Solomon the wise will at times act very, very foolishly.
Perhaps somewhere along the way, Solomon lost perspective and began to think he did not need God. Certainly, he seems to have become more concerned with his own comfort and pleasure than the good of his people. Wisdom requires continuing humility. As Gandhi observed, "It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err." [http://www.ucc.org/worship_samuel_sermon_seeds_august_19_2018] The wise always remember that they are fallible and sinful, that they have limited knowledge and ability, and thus they always remember that they need God and they turn continually to God for help.
There is an essentially relational quality to wisdom: it is born of our relationship to God and it bears fruit in our relationship to others. We learn from God, by both teaching and example, what is good and how we should relate to each other, both as individuals and as a society.
There is a story I’m fond of concerning the Marquis de Lafayette, who fought with the American colonists in the War of Independence. He was a wealthy man who lived on a large estate. In 1783, France suffered from a poor harvest. Lafayette was more fortunate than most. His workers were able to fill his barns with wheat. Sensing an opportunity, one of his workers came to Lafayette with a word of worldly wisdom. “The bad harvest has raised the price of wheat,” the man said. “This is the time to sell.” But Lafayette knew that the peasants in the surrounding villages were in peril. He replied, “No, this is the time to give.” [taken from an old sermon; source unknown]
Lafayette acted in accordance with the wisdom commended in our scriptures. As Kenneth Carter observes, “The common witness of both [the old and new] testaments describes the qualities of a life that is pleasing to God: we empty ourselves for others, we seek the common good, we put the need of others before our own, we acknowledge our dependence on a higher power.” [Feasting on the Word, Supplemental Essays, 1 Kings 2.10-12; 3.3-14, Pastoral Perspective, WJK, 2012, p. 5] That is what it means to understand God’s will and live as people who are wise.
It is not always easy to live such a life of wisdom. The water is deep, the problems are complex, the right action is not always clear. But it is our call to enact justice and to embody love. So let us follow Solomon’s example and seek wisdom, knowing that God grants it to all who desire to please the Lord. Let us humbly come before God that we might be given discerning minds and hearing hearts and thus learn how to swim through the deep waters of life. Amen.